Who should write my LORS?

[cooper]

Hey all,

I have a question about selcting letter writers for PhD apps. I already chose two Econ Profs whom I know I want (and are willing) to write me letters.

I would also like one from a Math Prof and one more from an Econ Prof. This would give me a total of four letters.


Choosing the math prof

Math Prof 1- I took calc 3 with and am taking diff eq's with now. This Prof knows me enough to say some good things about me, but these courses are not really rigorous.

Math Prof 2- I am taking advanced calculus with now. This is an analysis course at my uni. I have not had much time to impress this Prof yet, so I don't know how much this Prof can say about me, but the course is rigorous. I plan to go to this Prof's office and just sort of greese the wheels a little, but this may only get me so far since I don't want to annoy him.

I have not discussed this with either Math Prof yet. If you think neither one of these would help, I will go with both Econ Prof letters below.

Choosing the Econ Prof

Econ Prof 1- My advisor. I have taken courses from this Prof before. I was an RA for this Prof all of last year, and will be again this year. This prof will speek very highly of me. This one has only Associate status. This Prof is not famous, but his/her name might be recognized by schools I am applying to because his/her research is Monetary Econ, and I am applying to Macro oriented programs.

Econ Prof 2- Have taken a course from before. I am an RA for this Prof this year also. This one has Full Professor status, and will speek very highly of me as well. This Prof does I/O stuff, so may not be recognized by schools I am applying to.

Both Econ Profs said they would write me letters.

Essentialy, I need either, 1 Math and one Econ, or two Econ letters.

[OneMoreEcon]

I'd go for both econ profs, since they can both speak about your research abilities. I'd go with a mediocre math rec over a mediocre econ rec, but you've got two solid econ recs here.

[cooper]

Thanks OneMoreEcon.

I understand your point about choosing a great rec over a mediocre rec, but I will get at least 2 awesome recs from econ profs regardless.

Since my math background is not incredible (not bad either), I was thinking the marginal benefit of one more rec from an econ prof, may not outweigh the marginal benefit of a math rec.

On the other hand, I feel that a rec that is no more than okay, may not do any good, and can even be damaging.

Can you (or anyone else) please comment on this comparison a little more? This is probably the most important part of my application so I want to do this right.

While you are at it, I am curious how much a Professor's status matters i.e. associate, full, etc. (ignoring fame and reputation of course).

[Jhai]

It might be useful for you to mention what the two other econ professor will by saying in their recs & how they know you. I'm a fan of having different professors tell different things about you - for instance, I'm having one from my advisor/research supervisor, one from a prof. I've had a lot of classes with, including adv. micro, and one from the head of the department, who I'm TAing for.